In April 2013, the World Bank set a new goal to end extreme poverty in a generation. Our target is to have no more than 3 percent of the world’s population living on just $1.25 a day by 2030.
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The overarching context for this report,
which focuses on the period from 2007 to 2012, is Iraqs
status as a resource-rich, fragile and conflict-affected
state. Th... Show More +e country has been a nexus of conflict and
fragility since the early 1980s, and has experienced
multiple types of conflict: insurgency, international war,
sectarian strife, persistent terrorism, regional
fragmentation, and spillovers from conflict in other
countries. A key priority of the Government of Iraq since
2005 to 2006 has been to fill the huge knowledge gap in
terms of a deeper understanding of the state of the economy
and of a range of socio-economic indicators of welfare with
the objective of building a strong evidence base for
effective policy making. The rich analyses presented in this
report, that goes well beyond counting the poor, to give an
incisive understanding of the multi-layered development
challenges faced by the nation is a testament to the
commitment of the Government of Iraq, the staff of the
Central Statistics Office and Kurdistan Region Statistics
Office. It will form the basis for a new strategy for Iraqs
development and to ensure broad based welfare improvements
for the population. This poverty and inclusion assessment
provides the first in-depth analysis of Iraqs economic and
social development spanning the period 2007 to 2012, since
the end of sectarian war of 2006 to 2007, accompanied by
recovery in the oil sector, a massive scaling up of oil
revenues, and extensive efforts by the government to meet
the high expectations of the people. Show Less -

The overarching context for this report,
which focuses on the period from 2007 to 2012, is Iraqs
status as a resource-rich, fragile and conflict-affected
state. Th... Show More +e country has been a nexus of conflict and
fragility since the early 1980s, and has experienced
multiple types of conflict: insurgency, international war,
sectarian strife, persistent terrorism, regional
fragmentation, and spillovers from conflict in other
countries. A key priority of the Government of Iraq since
2005 to 2006 has been to fill the huge knowledge gap in
terms of a deeper understanding of the state of the economy
and of a range of socio-economic indicators of welfare with
the objective of building a strong evidence base for
effective policy making. The rich analyses presented in this
report, that goes well beyond counting the poor, to give an
incisive understanding of the multi-layered development
challenges faced by the nation is a testament to the
commitment of the Government of Iraq, the staff of the
Central Statistics Office and Kurdistan Region Statistics
Office. It will form the basis for a new strategy for Iraqs
development and to ensure broad based welfare improvements
for the population. This poverty and inclusion assessment
provides the first in-depth analysis of Iraqs economic and
social development spanning the period 2007 to 2012, since
the end of sectarian war of 2006 to 2007, accompanied by
recovery in the oil sector, a massive scaling up of oil
revenues, and extensive efforts by the government to meet
the high expectations of the people. Show Less -

The overarching context for this report,
which focuses on the period from 2007 to 2012, is Iraqs
status as a resource-rich, fragile and conflict-affected
state. Th... Show More +e country has been a nexus of conflict and
fragility since the early 1980s, and has experienced
multiple types of conflict: insurgency, international war,
sectarian strife, persistent terrorism, regional
fragmentation, and spillovers from conflict in other
countries. A key priority of the Government of Iraq since
2005 to 2006 has been to fill the huge knowledge gap in
terms of a deeper understanding of the state of the economy
and of a range of socio-economic indicators of welfare with
the objective of building a strong evidence base for
effective policy making. The rich analyses presented in this
report, that goes well beyond counting the poor, to give an
incisive understanding of the multi-layered development
challenges faced by the nation is a testament to the
commitment of the Government of Iraq, the staff of the
Central Statistics Office and Kurdistan Region Statistics
Office. It will form the basis for a new strategy for Iraqs
development and to ensure broad based welfare improvements
for the population. This poverty and inclusion assessment
provides the first in-depth analysis of Iraqs economic and
social development spanning the period 2007 to 2012, since
the end of sectarian war of 2006 to 2007, accompanied by
recovery in the oil sector, a massive scaling up of oil
revenues, and extensive efforts by the government to meet
the high expectations of the people. Show Less -

The overarching context for this report,
which focuses on the period from 2007 to 2012, is Iraqs
status as a resource-rich, fragile and conflict-affected
state. Th... Show More +e country has been a nexus of conflict and
fragility since the early 1980s, and has experienced
multiple types of conflict: insurgency, international war,
sectarian strife, persistent terrorism, regional
fragmentation, and spillovers from conflict in other
countries. A key priority of the Government of Iraq since
2005 to 2006 has been to fill the huge knowledge gap in
terms of a deeper understanding of the state of the economy
and of a range of socio-economic indicators of welfare with
the objective of building a strong evidence base for
effective policy making. The rich analyses presented in this
report, that goes well beyond counting the poor, to give an
incisive understanding of the multi-layered development
challenges faced by the nation is a testament to the
commitment of the Government of Iraq, the staff of the
Central Statistics Office and Kurdistan Region Statistics
Office. It will form the basis for a new strategy for Iraqs
development and to ensure broad based welfare improvements
for the population. This poverty and inclusion assessment
provides the first in-depth analysis of Iraqs economic and
social development spanning the period 2007 to 2012, since
the end of sectarian war of 2006 to 2007, accompanied by
recovery in the oil sector, a massive scaling up of oil
revenues, and extensive efforts by the government to meet
the high expectations of the people. Show Less -

In 2000, the Government of India
launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (hereinafter
PMGSY) with the primary objective of providing all-weather
road connecti... Show More +vity (with necessary culverts and
cross-drainage structures operable throughout the year), to
eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas. Currently,
about 60 percent of the 170,000 eligible habitations have a
road. By the end of 2010, expenditures for the program had
amounted to about US$14.6 billion, and a further US$40
billion is estimated to be required to complete the program
by 2020 (World Bank, 2010). The PMGSY program is a very
large undertaking with the World Bank also being involved in
its financing and execution all along; the most recent
credit amounted to US$1.4 billion. This report summarizes
findings based on data collected as part of the primary
survey, coupled with findings from the qualitative survey
which included focus group discussions (FGDs). It highlights
findings which answer the six key questions which are
relevant to decision makers as evidence to improve existing
and proposed programs and for further policy dialogue. This
is a short version of a separate detailed report which in
addition to the key findings of the quantitative and
qualitative surveys has annexes on key impacts and detailed
findings by state. The detailed analysis and tables
generated are part of the full statistical analysis report
by international consultants and the preliminary findings
report which will serve as background reports for reference
as required. It is hoped that the report(s) will make a
useful contribution to the process of drawing up
recommendations to improve PMGSY's impact in the sphere
of ascriptive distribution - in short, on its 'inclusiveness'. Show Less -

The development of a wealthier,
literate, and healthy society is a fundamental goal of
Congo's national development plan (NDP) 2012-16 and
poverty reduction strateg... Show More +y paper (PRSP) 2012-16. Appropriate
funding allocations and efficient use of funds in education
and health are fundamental for the development of the
sectors. This public expenditure review (PER) of the
Congolese education and health sectors aims at providing
inputs to improve efficiency and equity in spending in these
sectors. It takes into account the following findings of the
macro PER: (i) spending on the social sectors is still low
although it has increased over time; (ii) the fiscal space
generated by the increased oil revenues has largely boosted
investment expenditure; and (iii) budget execution is low
which contributes to lower the real level of public
spending. The PER is divided in two main parts. Part I,
constitutes an overview of the two sector reports. Thus, it
presents a brief analysis of the context of the country, a
summary of findings of the education and health PER, a
discussion on cross-cutting themes on spending in the two
sectors, and a summary of recommendations. Part II includes
the education and health PER. Show Less -

Kosovo is Europes youngest country,
both in terms of history and demographics. As part of the
former Yugoslavia, Kosovo became a separate territory under
United Na... Show More +tions administration in 1999, and declared its
independence in 2008. By February 2014 it had been
recognized by 106 UN member states including 23 out of 28 EU
members. Kosovo is a potential candidate for European Union
(EU) membership and is currently negotiating a Stabilization
and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European
Commission. From 1999 Kosovo has been using the Deutsche
Mark and, since 2002, its successor currency, the Euro, as
legal tender. Kosovo is a landlocked country in South East
Europe (SEE) with about 1.8 million inhabitants and a large
migrant population based mainly in Western European
countries. Kosovo has taken great strides to rebuild an
economy destroyed by the collapse of Yugoslavia and the
1998-99 war, with sound fiscal numbers and budgets focused
on capital expenditure. In general, Kosovos headline
macroeconomic indicators are also relatively sound. Growth
has averaged over 4 percent since 2000 and remained positive
after 2008 during the global crisis years. Household survey
evidence for 2006-11 suggests that economic growth
benefitted all sections of society but the poorest 40
percent of the population saw consumption rise faster than
wealthier groups. Public and private investments have made
large contributions toward economic growth over the last
five years as efforts to rebuild the economy continued. Show Less -

Over the seven years from 2004 through
2011, Cambodian economic growth was tremendous, ranking amid
the best in the world. Moreover, household consumption
increased... Show More + by nearly 40 percent. And this growth was
pro-poor, not only reducing inequality, but also
proportionally boosting poor people's consumption
further and faster than that of the non-poor. As a result,
the poverty rate dropped from 52.2 to 20.5 percent,
surpassing all expectations. However, the majority of these
people escaped poverty only slightly: they remain highly
vulnerable, even to small shocks, which could quickly bring
them back into poverty. The main drivers of poverty
reduction were better prices of rice for farmers, better
wages for agricultural workers, increases in salary jobs for
the urban labor force, and better income for
non-agricultural businesses for rural households.
Improvements in health and education, as well as government
investment in infrastructure, provided a favorable
environment for the poor, allowing many of them to pull
themselves out of poverty. Looking forward, some of these
drivers of poverty reduction are likely to stall. Coupled
with increased vulnerability, the present conditions create
new challenges for the Royal Government of Cambodia.
Furthermore, most of the improvements in Cambodia originated
at very low values, thus leaving much work to better the
well-being of many Cambodian households. Outstanding gains
have been achieved, but it will take focus and further
actions to maintain Cambodia's future growth. Most
poverty in Cambodia is found in the countryside: about 90
percent of Cambodia's poor live in rural areas. To
generate the maximum impact, government policies should
concentrate on the productivity of the rural poor's
major assets: their labor and their land. Show Less -

In Poland, addressing the situation of
the remaining poor groups is likely to become much harder
over time as their problems are likely to be deeper and
their situa... Show More +tion more complex. A social inclusion approach
that tackles their multiple disadvantages will be needed.
This study aims to contribute to Poland's social
inclusion debate by providing policy makers and civil
society with evidence from the field about (1) what
population groups are currently 'socially
excluded;' (2) what are the driving factors of their
exclusion; and (3) the success and failure of current social
inclusion policies and programs. The ultimate goal of this
work is to make current social inclusion interventions more
effective by learning from what has been tried. The findings
are particularly relevant now that a new EU funding cycle
has started, with part of the funds earmarked for tackling
social inclusion. The study was conducted in three regions:
Malopolskie, Podkarpackie, and Mazowieckie (in Radom County
only). The first two are among Poland's poorest regions
in terms of income poverty. The part of Mazowieckie in which
the research was conducted also has a higher than average
poverty rate; in addition, the unemployment rate there (31
percent) is much greater than the national average (about 13
percent in 2013). Capitals of the other two regions were
excluded from the research. Show Less -

This note proposes a reform agenda to
address the challenges facing the system of social
assistance This will require: i) a progressive shift of
public expenditure ... Show More +toward pro-poor programs; ii) improving
coherence and complementarity among social protection
programs, and iii) making social assistance programs more
inclusive and responsive. The structure of this chapter is
as follows. The next two sections provide an overview of
poverty and the composition and trends in non-contributory
social protection expenditure in the Kyrgyz Republic. The
fourth section looks at performance of the social assistance
expenditure in the Kyrgyz Republic and shows that while
spending has increased significantly in recent years, its
performance in terms of coverage and targeting of the poor,
as well as in terms of its impact on poverty remains modest.
Other issues, which are important to take into account in
the process of improving effectiveness of social assistance
expenditure, are discussed in the following section. The
last section concludes by summarizing key challenges and
proposing recommendations for system reform, as well as
areas requiring further research and analysis. Show Less -

The Nigerian labor force, like that of
many countries in Africa, is heavily concentrated in
agriculture. According to World Bank reports, the
agricultural sector in... Show More + Nigeria grew by about 6.8 percent
annually from 2005-2009. This report focuses on the
characteristics of the agricultural sector and rural
households in Nigeria, and their implications for poverty.
This report examines the relationships using nationally
representative data from the general household survey (GHS)
panel , 2010-11. It was found that an elasticity of poverty
reduction with respect to agricultural productivity of
between 0.25 to 0.3 percent implying that a 10 percent
increase in agricultural productivity will decrease the
likelihood of being poor by between 2.5 and 3 percent.
Agriculture in Nigeria is varied across regions, and, not
surprisingly, most households involved in the sector reside
in rural areas. The report is organized as follows: section
one gives introduction. Section two gives brief description
of selected agricultural programs and the targets of
government expenditure in the sector in recent decades.
Section three presents detailed profile of rural households
and the composition of economic activities with a particular
focus on agriculture. Section four examines the determinants
of agricultural productivity, and highlights the factors
(land ownership, input use, labor, plot management, land
tenure, and household characteristics) most important for
small-holder productivity. Section five concludes. Show Less -

This edition of the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA) regional economic update focuses on
recent economic developments and outlines the economic
challenges and op... Show More +portunities facing countries in the region.
The report warns that prospects for a full economic recovery
remain uncertain and underscores the importance of
persisting with reforms. Many countries in Middle East and
North Africa (MENA) will start to benefit from stronger
external demand in the high-income economies, as the global
economy is set for a rebound in 2014. After a marked
slowdown in 2013, a recovery in high income economies is
expected to boost global growth to 3.2 percent in 2014, an
increase by 0.8 percentage points compared to 2013. Global
output is expected to improve further in 2015 with real
gross domestic product (GDP) accelerating to 3.4 percent in
2015. The World Bank estimates that growth in the United
States (U.S.) will increase by 1 percentage point reaching
2.8 percent in 2014 and 2.9 percent in 2015; and the Euro
Zone will improve to 1.1 percent and accelerate to 1.4
percent in 2014 and 2015 respectively, relative to negative
0.4 percent growth in 2013. The growth rebound in the Euro
Zone is largely export led, with Germany and France
continuing to expand at a solid pace, and Spain exiting
recession. The world travel and tourism council estimates
show that tourism revenues will increase by 7 percent in the
MENA region in 2015 relative to 2014. To be sure, the global
recovery is still fragile and downside risks, including
continued low inflation in high-income economies, which can
weaken demand and delay the economic recovery, and the
escalation of conflict in Ukraine remain. This report
presents the short-term, regional macroeconomic outlook, and
economic challenges facing the countries in the MENA region.
In this report, the MENA region is divided into three
subgroups: the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) oil exporters,
developing oil exporters, and oil importers. Show Less -

Madagascar has been entirely
unsuccessful in reducing the number of its people that are
poor, or extremely so, in the ten years since 2001, when
poverty was already... Show More + at a very high level. This well-known
conclusion draws on the analysis of three successive rounds
of the national household expenditure surveys (enquete
periodiques aupres des menages, EPM) conducted by the
Madagascar National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) in
2001, 2005, and 2010. The objective of the analysis in this
report is to document the levels and changes in poverty in
Madagascar, and provide a detailed review of correlates of
poverty and inequality in various dimensions, including
gender, age, the structure of households, and place of
residence. The report is an assessment of past poverty
trends, and while policy implications are highlighted in
many cases, the report is focused mainly on the descriptive,
rather than prescriptive. It is found that the poverty
headcount did not decrease between 2001 and 2005, rising
instead from 71 to 75 percent of the population, rather than
the 68 percent estimated official headcount for 2005. The
methodology is described at length in the report and its annexes. Show Less -

Tanzania is largely an agriculture-based
economy. This sector accounts for over three-quarters of
national employment, and approximately 25 percent of gross
domesti... Show More +c product (GDP). The national agricultural input
voucher scheme (NAIVS) is a market smart input subsidy
program designed in response to the sharp rise in global
grain and fertilizer prices in 2007 and 2008. The main aim
of the program is to raise maize and rice production, and
thus preserve Tanzania's household and national food
security. During the period from 2008 to 2013, approximately
United States (U.S.) 300 million dollars has been invested
in providing more than 2.5 million smallholder farmers with
a 50 percent subsidy on a one acre package of maize or rice
seed, and chemical fertilizer. The input subsidy program
helped Tanzanian smallholders harvest more than 2.5 million
tons of additional maize and rice grain. The NAIVS program
also faced multiple logistical challenges. These challenges
are being considered in the government's new big
results now initiative. This report summarizes the results
of an overview of the program, and the results of two major
impact surveys independently conducted in late 2010 and late
2012. Chapter one places the NAIVS in context, reviewing the
status of the agricultural economy and the importance of
grain production in the country. Chapter two provides an
overview of the NAIVS program, including budget,
expenditure, and implementation rules. Chapter three briefly
summarizes the impact survey results and highlights the
financial and economic returns of the program. Chapter four
discusses the challenges faced during implementation of the
NAIVs, and chapter five reviews the implications for further
investment in this sort of input subsidy. Show Less -

In many Pacific island countries,
meeting non-food basic needs is a growing challenge and
further complicated by substantial economic and
environmental risks. Hards... Show More +hip and vulnerability are
increasingly prominent concerns in Pacific island countries,
but the knowledge base to guide policymaking is limited.
Family and community networks are central to life in most
Pacific island countries, providing critical support to
members in need and acting as safety nets when individuals
or households experience losses from shocks. The primary
objective of this report is to present solid empirical
evidence of hardship, vulnerability to shocks, and risk
management in the Pacific region. The report is primarily a
stocktaking exercise that brings together existing evidence
and new analysis of available data using a consistent
framework. The report takes a "micro" perspective
that of the individual and household but accounts for the
important role of communities, the state, and international
partners. This report focuses on risks, but accounts for the
role of opportunities when possible. While remaining
supportive of viable economic growth sectors, given the
limited means of most Pacific governments, expenditure
should be carefully focused on investments with high
expected economic returns and relatively low risks.
Development partners can play a role in financing these
investments and in sharing experiences on what works from
other parts of the world. Show Less -

Chad's chronically unstable
security situation has long undermined broad-based economic
growth and sustainable poverty reduction. Since independence
in 1960 Chad ha... Show More +s suffered from sporadic political violence
and ongoing tensions between different factions. The
country's fragile security has been further compromised
by interference from neighboring states and spillover
effects from regional conflicts. However, after rebel
attacks in 2008 and 2009, and following the recent
conclusion of a peace agreement between Chad and Sudan, the
security situation in the country has remained relatively
calm, presenting a valuable window of opportunity for
development efforts to take root. The objective of this
Poverty Note is to examine changes in poverty and inequality
in Chad since the emergence of the oil sector. It will focus
on the evolution of poverty indicators from the 2003 pre-oil
baseline captured in the Chadian Household Consumption and
Informal Sector Survey, or ECOSIT2 to the more recent
findings of the 2011 ECOSIT3 and compare current monetary
and nonmonetary poverty conditions in Chad with those of
comparable countries. It will go on to assess the impact of
oil production on the non-oil sectors of the Chadian
economy. Finally, it will evaluate the extent to which
public expenditures in the social sectors benefit the poor
by analyzing the progressivity of social spending. Show Less -

Budgets are key documents that lay out a
government's economic priorities in terms of policies
and programs. Budget transparency refers to the extent and
ease with ... Show More +which citizens can access information about and
provide feedback on government revenues, allocations, and
expenditures. Budget monitoring entails using such
information to analyze, critique, and track government
finances in order to provide this feedback. Budget
transparency is a prerequisite for public participation and
accountability, which are instrumental for a democratic and
legitimate budget process. Both budget transparency and
monitoring efforts also help remove institutional
bottlenecks that result in delayed budget allocations,
thereby jeopardizing the delivery of vital services to
people. Even though they have a far-reaching impact on the
lives of people, opening up budgets beyond the exclusive
domain of policy makers and administrators is a relatively
recent phenomenon that has gained momentum in the last two
decades. The stock taking exercise illustrates the range of
mechanisms involved in Budget Transparency and Monitoring
(BT&M) in different contexts and demonstrates
significant promise of influencing governance processes and
outcomes. Finally, there is a dearth of literature on
initiatives that have not achieved their goals, which would
allow lessons to be drawn from these failures. There are
incentives to document successes rather than failures, but
there is value in documenting failures because this allows
for a better understanding of the challenges and
opportunities that may be useful to consider when designing
future BT&M interventions. Show Less -

This policy note will focus on the
poverty trends in Nigeria using the National Living Standard
Survey (NLSS) 2004 and Harmonized Nigeria Living Standard
Survey (HN... Show More +LSS) 2010 only. In the last decade, Nigeria has
enjoyed a stable and sustained growth in a context of
responsible macroeconomic management, economic stability,
democracy, and reform. Nonetheless, results from household
surveys conducted during the same period seem to be at odd
with this particularly positive growth story: poverty
declined only by two percentage points between 2004 and
2010. Poverty levels may be lower and poverty reduction
faster than the official estimates suggest. Simulations and
sensitivity check confirm this hypothesis and call for
additional work to consolidate poverty analysis in Nigeria.
An important step in this direction is increasing the
collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics
regarding data collection and data management. There are,
however, several results from this policy note that seems to
stand on solid ground. First, the historical disparities
between the North and the South (more specifically
South-West) appear to have remained unchanged. Second,
inequality explains part of the limited poverty reduction.
Third, there is evidence of structural changes in the
economy. Labor absorption provides interesting insights.
Larger fractions of the working age population have moved
out of agriculture and joined the self-employed sector. To
make faster progress in poverty reduction, Nigeria needs a
game changing strategy if substantial progress has to be
made in meeting the global goals of reducing extreme poverty
to three percent in 2030. Show Less -

This report examines the lives of poor
men, women, and children and explores the constraints and
opportunities they face today in rising out of poverty. It
builds o... Show More +n a rich body of poverty analysis and an excellent
base of knowledge from previous reports and aims to do three
things. First, it proposes revisions to Vietnam's
poverty monitoring system - via better data, updated welfare
aggregates, and new poverty lines - to bring these more in
line with economic and social conditions in present-day
Vietnam. Second, it revisits the stylized facts about
deprivation and poverty in Vietnam, and develops an updated
profile of poverty using data from the 2010 Vietnam
Household Living Standards Survey (VHLSS) and new
qualitative field studies. Third, it analyzes some of the
key challenges for poverty reduction in the next decade,
including changing regional patterns of poverty and wealth,
high and persistent poverty among ethnic minorities, and
rising inequality in outcomes and opportunities. Show Less -

Employment and skills are at the core of
Europe 2020, the European Union's (EU) competitiveness
strategy, and are decisive for high productivity and
sustained growt... Show More +h. Romania has overcome significant
challenges on its path to EU membership and in the early
years thereafter. However, the Romanian economy has recently
come under pressure as a result of the economic crisis and
because important reforms in employment and education have
not yet been completed. The Europe 2020 Romania report
discusses the key challenges currently faced by Romania in
the area of productive employment, and proposes a set of
steps the Romanian government could consider in order to
reach the Europe 2020 targets. Skills remain a major
challenge. In particular, there is insufficient provision of
the higher level generic and technical skills needed for a
modern and competitive economy, including skills for
technological innovation and absorption of new technologies.
While Romania performs comparatively well in terms of higher
education participation rates, there are concerns about
early school leavers and the quality of provision, in
particular at the tertiary level but also at earlier stages.
Skills shortages are a major constraint to economic growth,
together with labor participation. For Romania to achieve
its Europe 2020 employment target it must increase
employment rates, starting with the labor force
participation of women, youth and older workers. Achieving
the Europe 2020 employment target in Romania thus hinges
especially on increasing the labor force participation of
the population beyond the age of 55, especially of women.
Romania could expand its labor force by at least 25 percent
if older workers fulfilled their participation potential.
This report argues that by combining policies in two key
areas, Romania can achieve its Europe 2020 employment target
and go beyond that. The most relevant policy factors under
the two pillars: 1) in the short and medium term, policy
reforms to enable a faster dynamic of job creation by the
private sector; and 2) in the short to longer term, policies
to foster the adaptability and productivity of a shrinking
and aging workforce. Show Less -